This proposal requests support for the Federal University of Bahia to plan a training program with the objective of strengthening our research capability in Tropical Diseases. The program is based in the "Servi9o de Imunologia" (Immunology Service), which also serves as the base for the Tropical Medicine Research Center (TMRC) in Brazil. While our group, in collaboration with American and Brazilian scientists, has proven scientific excellence in tropical disease research, obtaining a "Global infectious disease research training grant" will allow for the expansion of the depth of training of our personnel in new, "cutting edge" technologies and approaches. Preliminary assessment of areas which need strengthened include clinical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, immunogenetics and molecular biology. The current proposal for a "Planning Grant" is designed to determine, through a critical assessment, the specific needs for infectious diseases research training of students, technicians and faculty. Our core and collaborating faculty include members from the base institution in Brazil as well as from two other Universities in Brazil, Rio Grande do Norte and Minas Gerais. The American partners include faculty from Cornell University, University of Virginia and University of Iowa. The majority of the faculties are already collaborators of the TMRC. An advisory committee composed of one Brazilian and two American scientists, who are not directly participants of the TMRC, will help at the identification of areas that need to be strengthened. The core faculty will identify the investigators and institutions to be directly involved with the training activities. The implementation of the "Planning Grant" will consist of one meeting in Bahia with the participation of the organizing and advisory committee aimed at identifying the areas that need to be strengthened. A second meeting between the Brazilian and American core faculty will define duration of each type of training and commitments to be made by each at the participating institutions and amongst the participating faculty. Thus, through this two-part process, we will be able to accurately plan and design a final proposal for a "Global infectious disease research training grant" for submission in 2004.